


A Midol to Heal Your Wounds

by WhumpTown



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22206814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhumpTown/pseuds/WhumpTown
Summary: Malcolm hits Dani while he's asleep...so much whump ensues(warning of past abuse and physical assault)
Relationships: Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 4
Kudos: 103





	A Midol to Heal Your Wounds

He’s getting worse.

_“Malcolm!”_

It’s not his father that wakes him tonight. The girl in the box is nowhere in sight. It’s Dani. Her eyes big, full of tears as she’s thrown off the bed. Their bed. His chest heaves and when he looks back over, she’s gone. Her voice echos in his ears, screaming his name. Begging him to stop. The bruise from _his_ hand across her face. He’ll kill her.

He hurt her.

He knows better than to try to go back to sleep, not after that. He pulls on a pair of sweat pants and his jacket. His walk is short, he really only needed to go around the block once to calm himself down. He shouldn’t have run into anyone. "H-Hey, guys." Malcolm tries to smile at the officers, waving a trembling hand at them. "I'm just walking home, nothing to worry about." He’s never feared cops. Never had a reason to. _Gil_ is the cops. They’re a strangely comforting presence. 

“You piece of shit!” The batton taste like justice as it comes across his face. Daggers up his elbows as he falls to the ground and he knows he deserves this. Well placed boots knock the air out of his lungs, a fist steals the vision from his right eye. The pain rains down and he can’t differentiate their sources. He succumbs to the pain, allowing it to swallow him. It’s what he deserves. They shout words with their blows, aiming their actions at any part of his moving body.

“Don’t come into work tomorrow,” a deep voice over his head threatens, the treads of boots pressing into his cheek as it presses his head into the cement. “Nah,” the voice spits hot venom on his cheek. “I don’t want you showing up at all.” He’s released with one last kick. “Ever.”

They leave him there. The street light burns his eyes. His blood runs down his face, drying in his hair. He pulls his right arm under his body, gasping as his left shoulder rolls out of the joint. Tears squeeze out of the corners of his eyes, flames of raw pain licking up his sides. “Ahh!” His left arm gives out underneath him. Sending him back to the ground, whimpering as the air is knocked out of his lungs. 

His right arm trembles as he sits back up, ribs screaming. He gets his knees underneath him, stomach threatening to revolt. He gags, blood from his nose running off his lips. Pennies. He tastes pennies and hot acid spews from his mouth. It nearly sends him back to the ground. 

His ragged breathing is loud, wrong. He stands quickly, locking his knees. The world spins, his stomach twists painfully. He gags, nothing comes up. He can taste his blood on his tongue, he spits it out. 

Slowly, he takes a step forward. Three houses. Breathing is excruciating. Moving feels like he’s grating glass into his skin. He can’t lift his left leg from the ground, just drags it behind him. Three houses, he reminds himself as black creeps into the corner of his eye. Three.

Two. It takes so long to pass the second, somehow drawn out too far. He stumbles over the uneven pavement. He groans, gritting his teeth. He throws his right arm out, catching nothing but air. He nearly falls but it’s just two more houses. 

He chokes on a cough, a strangled gasp of agony on his lips. He blows a breath out, steadying for himself despite his right hand trembling so unsteadily he couldn’t catch himself now if he does fall.

Standing in front of the door, he gets a splitting migraine. He manages to force his right hand to form a fist, twisting the door handle. There’s a flight of steps in front of him. The last thing he sees before he goes boneless.

_“Malcolm!”_

He’s sorry. So sorry. 

_“Malcolm!”_

He opens his eyes and Dani’s right in front of him. Shaking his shoulder, lips moving but no words making their way to his ears.

“Malcolm, thank God.” Tears are streaming down her cheeks, she’s touching him. Her hands in his hair, on his face. She’s crying but he doesn’t see the bruise. He draws in a shakey breathe and his eye rolls into the back of his head.

_“Malcolm! Wake up!” Cold hands, Dani’s cold hands. He blinks awake, her face morphing into the girls. Cold hands wrap around his throat. Squeezing. He fights to getaway. He scrambles, it’s just a dream. She’s so cold. Right, over-top him she squeezes his throat halting his breathing. “Malcolm!”_

_His fist connects with solid flesh. The cold is gone. Slowly, each deep inhale bringing closer to the surface he sees her. “D-Dani?” One of her cold hands is on her cheek, fingers unable to completely cover the rapidly bruising skin. She’s on the floor. “O-Oh fuck.” He stands on trembling legs, adrenaline coursing through him._

_“Malcolm!” She stands quickly, throwing a hand up to stop him. “Stop. You didn’t mean it. It’s okay.”_

_He trips over his feet, trembling limbs no good.  
“Malcolm, you were asleep.”_

_They stare at each other. Her tears of pain and fear. God, fear. That’s his fault. Is she afraid he’ll hit her again? “Dani, I hurt you.” This was never a good idea. She’s too good for this, for him. He should have steered her towards someone who deserves her. A man who can eat nasty take-out pizza and sleep through the night._

_She steps forward, quickly stopping when he takes two back. “Okay, okay.” She lowers her hands. A tear slides down her cheek,” but you didn’t mean to, Malcolm. I forgive you.” She’s doesn’t care about the pizza, though. She wants grilled cheese nights and learning to make countless types of soup. She wants him dancing in nothing but boxers and his apron… or just the apron._

_He shakes his head, tears streaming. “I hit you,” he pleads for her to see how wrong this is. “You deserve better than that.”_

_She’s been with abusive men. Narcissist. Never once did she get hit by a man and he didn’t immediately spin it to being her fault. Abusive men are like that. They give you gifts so you keep your mouth shut, buying your love with twisted apologies._

_Malcolm Bright is not an abusive man._

_“Malcolm,” she frowns at him,” I am a grown woman.” Malcolm bought her love with his actions, his thoughtfulness. Not with cheap roses and apologies that he doesn’t mean. “I know what I deserve and I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.” She needs him to understand,” you were asleep, I tried to wake you up. That’s on me-”_

_“No!” He steps forward,” that’s me.” His finger pokes his skin harshly,” me, Dani! I hit you. You’re the victim and I’m the-” His voice cracks,” I’m the monster.”_

_“Oh, Malcolm-”_

_“N-No,” he shakes his head. “You have to leave. You have to leave me.”_

_“I can’t-”_

_“Go!” He’s still trembling, crying. “Please.” He lowers his voice, nearly a whisper,” Dani, please.”_

_“Malcolm-”_

“Malcolm.”

He blinks slowly, clearing his vision as well as he can. His right eye is nearly swollen shut but he can see her okay. “Dani,” he’s breathless, melted into her lap. He only knows because he’s sitting up slightly, her cold hand on his face.

She’s crying. “I’m so sorry.” She did her best to hide the bruise but the guys at the precinct know her tricks too well. They’ve seen her struggle through an abusive relationship. She didn’t think anything of them looking at her for a moment too long. Not until this morning when Frank came by her desk.

 _“You don’t have to worry about that asshole anymore.”_ His hand was too heavy. His implications… wrong. She knew. She just couldn’t imagine the damage they’d inflict until she could see it with her own eyes. 

"You need to go to the hospital."

Malcolm manages a small gasp, shaking his head. She opens her mouth to argue but he squeezes her hand, tears in his eyes.

She can’t tell him no. Not when he’s looking at her with those big sad eyes. “Okay but I’m calling Edrisa.” She swallows thickly,” let’s get you to bed.” She’ll call Gil and JT, too. She doesn’t want Frank or any of the others to get in trouble, they were looking out for her but...

She helps Malcolm stands up, his right knee giving out from underneath him. His shoulder hits the wall closest to him, hard. Dani pulls him up, against her instead of the cold, hard wall. Malcolm shouts out in pain.

He bites back the worst of it, attempting to hide some of the bruises with a well-placed arm across his chest. He stumbles over the slight incline at the door, enough to pitch his chest forward. His shirt reveals enough. Dani sees his red, inflamed skin. The dark bruises forming over his ribs. 

“Easy,” she keeps him steady as he forces his feet to move, to walk. “Let me get the door.” His apartment is the same as when she left two days previously. She shakes her head and keeps him walking, afraid his legs will give out beneath him before they get to the bed. “Almost there.”

He whimpers as he sits, trembling as she guides his head to the pillow. 

“Stay right here, I’m going to check for some pain medicine.” His cabinets are predictably bare. She sighs, running her hand over her face. He needs something. She goes back to the door where she dropped her purse when they got there. She finds Midol.

“Here,” she helps him sit up and swallow the pill. “I’m not sure how good it’s going to be but you don’t have Tylenol or Advil so it’ll have to do.” He coughs on the water, grimacing and his body going rigid as he writhes. She puts the cup on his nightstand and hopes it does something until Edrisa and the others can get here.

He looks up at her, blood running down his chin. He smiles softly, flashing teeth coated in crimson,” I guess we’re even now, huh?”

How he could equate a night terror gone wrong to him getting the shit beat out of him is beyond her. It infuriated her to no end so she shakes her head. She doesn’t mean to get so heated but she does anyway. “No. We’re not even. Even isn’t how relationships work, Malcolm.” She calms herself with a long breath,” it’s giving and taking. Not for sake of score but because what’s mine is yours and your’s mine, except neither of us, ever have to say that.” She squats down by the bed,” don’t you understand that?”

She strokes a tuft of hair from his face,” our relationship is… it’s everything to me. Did you know, the first night I ever spent over here I sat in the bathroom for five minutes googling what I should do, for you, if you had a nightmare. I have a whole journal of ideas I wanted to tell you about. To help you.” She wipes a tear from her face with the back of her hand,” and you. You make me grilled cheese and Earl Grey when I’m sad but I never had to tell you I’m sad. You listen and you care.”

She smiles as more tears run down her face,” I’ve had bad boyfriends, Malcolm. One time one of them hit me because I looked at his boss for too long at the faculty picnic.” She cups his cheek,” you, you are nothing like them. You’re good and kind.” She looks into his eyes,” and I… I love you, Malcolm. I love you so much it hurts me and I don’t ever want to stop.”

His right-hand rises slowly, trembling as he places it over her hand. “I love you too.”

She leans down and kisses him. He tastes like blood and he looks like shit but he’s still Malcolm. “Good,” she sighs,” get some sleep. When Edrisa gets here, it’s not going to be fun.”

His eyes are already sliding shut. His body sinking into the mattress,” ok.”

She sits by his bed, holding his hand. It won’t be easy, it never will be, but Dani’s never been one to back down from a challenge.


End file.
